Zion, Valley of Fire and Bryce Canyon

I think this starts best with an introduction about how I met the lovely, adventurous lady behind the lens
of Folk + Wayfarer Photography, Tessa. This girl and I have been friends on Facebook for years but have
only known each other personally since May of 2019 when we decided to go to a photography
workshop together. That workshop was a bust (not going to name names) but we had a blast
adventuring and traveling together anyways. Since then we have stayed super close friends talking
weekly and loving on each other’s social media accounts.
Tessa reached out to me some months ago and let me know that she would be traveling out west for a
photoshoot at Valley of Fire with a couple for their engagement photos. She asked if I wanted to tag
along, and of course I couldn’t turn down an opportunity to travel. We decided we would explore Valley
of Fire and Zion for sure, then see what else we decided we had time for along the way. Turns out we
had time for both of those amazing places and Bryce Canyon, yay!

Day 1 I flew into Las Vegas and met Tessa at the airport. We
hopped on an uber to Escape Camper Vans and got so excited when we pulled up.
There were so many vans with all different designs on them when we pulled up.
They assigned us to Topiary, a 2-person camper van with plants painted all over
it. Could this have been any more perfect? I mean, Tessa and I are both
obsessed with plants. After filling out paperwork we were on the road, headed
out to Valley of Fire and were as excited as ever.

We pulled up to Valley of fire, explored the visitor center
and then met Tre and Andi to head to the location for their engagement photos.
Tessa had discussed location with them early on and they had all decided on the
Rainbow Vista Trail. We headed that way and were amazed at the beauty of the
rocks and views on the way. The trail was close to the beginning of the park,
so we arrived quickly and started to walk down the trail to take photos. There
were different cactus and plant species all over. The trail was covered in sage
green colored bushes that contrasted well against the red/orange rocks on the
background. Every direction we turned was beautiful!

Tre and Andi’s engagement session was a dream. Watching
Tessa work and how those two interreacted was a blast. I love learning and
watching the way other photographers shoot, it is always amazing. We explored
around, shooting and creating memories for the next hour until the sun went
down and we started to get cold.

Into the van we went and drove off toward
Zion. We wanted to use the evening to drive towards Zion to camp since it was
already dark. We drove the couple hours towards Zion and settled on camping
outside of a town called Hurricane. We found a free camping site and hunkered
down for the night. It was pitch black and raining when we parked for the
night, so we had no idea what it looked like until the morning.

Of course, when we go to the park, we stopped at the visitor
center. While there we bought some stickers and t shirts and decided we were
going to drive up one side of the park, all the way to the Narrows, and then
back down just so we could make sure to see everything possible. Gosh, the
views in Zion are un-real! Seriously, everywhere you look there are huge cliffs
and beautiful colors. We then stopped at Watchman’s trail to hike for a bit. We
hiked about halfway up the trail and then decided we needed to turn around if
we wanted to make it to Canyon Overlook for the sunset.

When we woke up, we were pleasantly surprised. There were
mountains in the distance covered in snow that we couldn’t see the night before
when pulling in. We stopped and grabbed some coffee in Hurricane and headed
towards the park. We stopped at a gem and crystal shop outside the park and met
the nicest man and the store dog. We chatted about concerts and they showed us all
the tricks the dog could do. I bought a bracelet made with lava rock that you
put essential oils on, and it is my new favorite bracelet.

OH MY GOSH! Let me tell you about Canyon Overlook Trail. You MUST do this hike if
you are ever in Zion National Park. The hike starts off a little steep but only
for a couple of minutes. Then the rest of the hike has amazing views and it is
very easy. Head out there for sunset like we did and sit and watch the sun set
over the huge mountains that surround you. Make sure you hike back before the
sun is completely down, as the trail is along an edge in some places and hiking
in the dark is just not a great idea unless you are very experienced.

After we left the showers, we slowly started to
notice more and more snow on the way to Bryce Canyon, we were surprised. I
guess neither of us had really looked into the weather to much for there, and apparently,
they get a bit of snow and it gets very cold and windy. We used an app called iOverlander
to find all our campsites for the trip, and outside of Bryce Canyon there was a
pull off in Dixie National Forest at an ATR trail parking lot. Tessa woke me up
at around 4am because we were both freezing and we figured driving the van
around would help heat it up. Turns out the heat in the back of the van didn’t
work at all, no matter how much we drove it. Since we were both freezing and
were already wide awake, we decided it would be best to just head into the park
to make sure we were at an ideal location for sunrise photos. Sunset point, despite
the name, seemed like the best location, and it was! As the sun started to come
up, we bundled up and went out to grab some photos. I’d say we lasted about 3
minutes and had to run back to the car because of how cold it was. Online said
it was 18 degrees. We decided that with the wind chill it was closer to -10.
Since there was so much snow, we couldn’t do any hikes which was a bummer, but
it was still amazing to take in the views from the top. We stopped at
Inspiration Point to take a handful of photos as well and the left the park.

Then the sun went down, and we headed out on our next
adventure. Bryce canyon here we come, or so we thought. It was a bit longer of
a drive than we thought it was going to be. We stopped at the only open
restaurant on the way for dinner, it was nice to finally have a hot meal after
having ham and cheese or pb&j sandwiches for the past couple days. After
dinner we decided we really needed a shower. It had been a couple days of
hiking and sweating and we were starting to be able to smell ourselves. We
searched and searched for a campsite, or even a motel that would let us pay to
just use their showers, and we finally found a campsite with a sign that said
“showers”. Bauer’s RV park was technically closed for the off season, but they
had a sign and some notes that said you could still use their facilities, but
to just pay the stated amount and put it in the mailbox. We were ecstatic! We
grabbed some clean clothes and walked into the showers only to realize we did
not have any towels, whoops. We ended up using a t-shirt from our bags to dry
off and shampoo as body wash.

We were back on the road at about 8:30 am and are heading to
Valley of Fire again to explore more and enjoy the heat. It was about a 4-hour
drive filled with bad reception on the radio and talking over how our lives
have been for the past couple months. After a pretty quick feeling 4 hours, we
were back at Valley of Fire. It was a nice 60-ish degrees outside and we were
happy. We drove through the park and took in the sights before we stopped at a
pull off to lay down for a bit and have a sandwich. Laying in the van with all
the doors open, soaking in the warm air while surrounded by amazing views was
so relaxing. We then decided on a short hiking trail that took us to the Fire
Wave. It was about one-mile long hike over the colorful rocks to a formation
that was shaped like a wave. It had so many colors and patterns and was a very
popular hike in the park. If you ever find yourself in Valley of Fire, this is
a great little hike that gets you to see some pretty cool landscapes. The wave
wasn’t the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen, but I am still glad we did the
hike.

After that we drove out to the 7 sisters parking area to take another nap, we were
somehow still exhausted, and grab some photos of our super sweet camper van
that we had for the trip. Tessa napped for a few while I sat there just taking
it all in. Once the napping was over, we spent about an hour there taking fun
photos of the van. We took some photos of the two of us while putting my camera
on timer mode and setting it on the ground (best we could do with no tri pod).

We then headed out of the park to find a location to camp for the night. Since we
didn’t have great service in the park, we figured we would just try and find
something outside of the park, since we knew we could camp there. We found a small
dirt road outside of the park, and almost to the highway. This seemed like a
good spot as we were still in the wilderness camping, but we were also close to
the highway and it would only take us an hour to get to the van drop off in the
morning. Once parked we started to pack up the van. Neither Tessa nor I are
super neat, organized people, so the van had kind of exploded. Clothing and
camera equipment everywhere. I was surprised that packing went so smoothly
since I barely had enough space on the way out here, and I had purchased 3
shirts from the parks. Somehow, I fit it all and didn’t have to give it another
attempt. Once done packing we started to reflect on our trip. Tessa uploaded
photos to her laptop, and we had a great time going through them and reminiscing
on the past couple of days that we had. That night we were asleep by 8pm, and
then up by 6am the next morning. We drove away from the wilderness and into Las
Vegas, dropped off Topiary (our van) and went on our separate ways.

Tessa and I chatted, and we know this is not our last trip
like this together. We can’t wait to start planning out or next adventure! I am
trying to convince her to come and visit me in New Mexico because I think she
would love it. Abiquiu, Plaza Blanca, the Valles Caldera. I think she would be
in awe. I have so many go to amazing locations here in NM that I think anyone
from out of state would love.

Now, let me tell you what I got from this trip. I got
rejuvenated. I have always known that I LOVE traveling but traveling in a
camper van is a whole other experience. I had the best time I have in a while. There
is something so freeing about it all. Knowing you can go wherever and stay
wherever. You don’t have a check in or check out time and you are free to
change plans. I am 100% buying a van and converting it into a camper van for
travel (with some help of course). Expect to see updates on this soon. I
already have some contenders in mind!

To end this blog, I just want to say, if you want to travel
and have a photographer follow you along on your adventure, I am your girl! Let’s
get you on top of a mountain to elope! Let’s get you in the desert for an
engagement session! Whatever it is, I am wanting to travel all over all the
time right now. If you have an idea send me a message. I am up for anything!

Photos of me taken by Tessa!